


Can You Keep a Secret?

by dragons_and_angels



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 02:01:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12760833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_and_angels/pseuds/dragons_and_angels
Summary: Nat had been trying to set them up for months but Steve and Bucky really don't want to prove her right.





	Can You Keep a Secret?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spokenitalics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spokenitalics/gifts).



> Thanks for all the great prompts, I had a hard time picking just one to do so I hope you enjoy this :) Thanks also to the mods for getting this exchange set up.

Bucky marched down the corridor, trying to forget what had just happened. There was no chance Sam Wilson had just beaten him at transfiguring a teapot. Transfiguration was Bucky's subject - everyone knew that! Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology and Ancient Runes were his. Wilson had Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic. They shared flying, but they'd been suspended for two Quidditch games for Muggle duelling in the air, so right now, neither of them had it. That was how the subjects were split and Wilson had no right to step outside of his lane.

A second later, he was being dragged into an empty classroom by Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson's best friend. "You got a free period?" Steve asked and Bucky barely had time to nod before Steve had him up against the wall, kissing him hard and fast. Bucky dropped his bag in order to clutch at Steve's shoulders, those gorgeous wide shoulders that Steve had had even before puberty had blessed him with the physique of a Greek God.

"You seem especially eager today," Bucky said as soon as Steve detached himself in order to start kissing Bucky's neck. He’ll have a mark there for sure, but right now he couldn't care less.

"Nat couldn't stop talking about how much you love Honeydukes and how you'd really like someone to take you there on the next Hogsmeade trip," Steve answered before giving Bucky another deep, drugging kiss. When Steve pulled back, he was breathing quickly and Bucky could feel him getting hard beneath his robes. Bucky shoved his hips forward, not particularly caring how desperate he seemed, when all he wanted was to drive Steve as wild as possible. "I started thinking about your lips - " Steve was cut off when Bucky gave a particularly hard thrust and Steve groaned into the quiet of the classroom. "And I couldn't think about anything else."

Bucky grinned up at the ceiling as Steve pushed open the collar of Bucky's robe in order to start leaving marks there as well. "Well, I am very distracting."

"And so modest," Steve muttered as he gently bit the skin over Bucky's collarbone. It gave Bucky a delightful shiver and he urged Steve's head back down, not willing to talk any longer.

Twenty minutes later, Bucky and Steve came out of the classroom, straightening each other's clothes and hair. "I'm really glad you learnt those cleaning charms last week," Steve said as he ran a hand through Bucky's hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek, natural and sweet.

"Me too." Bucky did up the last few buttons of Steve's robes and smoothed out the cloth with his hands. It didn't really need it but it did give Bucky a chance to grope Steve one last time. "Just so you know, we might not be able to go together but I expect you to get me some Honeydukes next Hogsmeade weekend."

Steve smiled as if surprised and, once again, it made Bucky feel like he was seeing a sunrise for the first time. "Duly noted. Sweets for the sweet," Steve crooned and this time Bucky couldn't help laughing.

"That is terrible."

"I know," Steve said, sounding all too proud of himself. "Ready to go down to lunch?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." As soon as they were in public, they had to revert back to Barnes and Rogers, well-known for their mutual dislike. "You tell Wilson that I am going to beat him at one of his subjects and see how he likes it."

Steve sighed. "I really wish you would stop putting me in the middle."

"Would you like us to make you choose a side?" Bucky raised one eyebrow and wasn't surprised when Steve hurriedly shook his head. Bucky would never do that and he was pretty sure, for all his faults, neither would Wilson, but sometimes it was fun to tease Steve. "Anyway, I like you a lot, you're great, the best thing that's ever happened to me and I don't mean anything I'm going to yell at you in public." He gave Steve a long kiss, though he kept it as chaste as possible considering they had to go down to the Great Hall now.

"Right back at you." And there was the Steve Rogers smile again. It was almost enough for Bucky to say sod lessons and their friends and persuade Steve into retiring to the Room of Requirement to live out the rest of the year. The thought of Nat forever saying 'I told you so' stopped him. She had been trying to set them up for months and neither of them wanted to tell her she was right. As soon as she stopped nagging them about asking each other on a date, they could casually tell her they were dating currently. It was a pride thing, at least for Bucky it was.

Unfortunately, it meant they couldn't be dating in public and since Steve was friends with Sam Wilson, it meant they couldn't even be friendly in public.

As soon as he was out of sight of Steve, Bucky let his shoulders slump, just for a second. Sneaking around had been fun at first but it had gotten old fast and now all Bucky wanted to do was invite Steve down to the Hufflepuff Common Room and snuggle up on one of their beanbag chairs in full view of everyone. Then again, going public would stir up a whole new host of problems.

He shook it off and straightened up, setting his face into a perpetual half-scowl and letting his frame broaden and fill up far more of the space than he needed to. Bucky knew how to act intimidating and he was too happy with his reputation as 'the scary Hufflepuff' to lose it.

"Hey, Rhodes," Bucky said as soon as approached the Hufflepuff table. One of the first years noticed Bucky coming and scurried off as fast as they could so Bucky gladly took their seat opposite Rhodes. He had brought his Charms book with him in the hopes of reading on in their lessons and beating Wilson at his own game.

"Barnes," Rhodes replied. He and Bucky had a friendly relationship, helped by both being on the Quidditch team. Rhodes was close to Stark, one of the weirdest Gryffindors Bucky had ever met, and Pepper Potts, one of Steve's fellow Slytherins. "You hear what happened this morning?"

"No?" Bucky helped himself to several sandwiches and stacked them up on his plate before cracking open his Charms book. Rhodes, too used to his multi-tasking, carried on talking.

"Carter the Younger has broken up with Thor's younger brother. What's his name again?"

"Loki," Bucky answered. He had thought he had a weird name before he started at Hogwarts but between Loki, Thor and Pepper, Bucky looked almost normal. "So, Carter the Younger is single again?" He highlighted a particularly interesting passage with his wand but wasn't really paying attention to it.

Rhodes nodded. "Rumour has it that Rogers might ask her out again now she's single."

"He wouldn't." That sounded far too knowledgeable about Steve so Bucky hastened to cover it. "I mean, it was a complete mess last time, with the other Carter. Surely he won't want to go through that again?" Merlin, Bucky really hoped so.

"What you and I would do is probably not the same as Steve Rogers would do. I swear, he has the worst possible dating luck." 

Bucky kept his head down as Rhodes continued to talk and hoping his face wasn't giving him away.

"Maybe he'll be better next time. Learning from mistakes and all that." Bucky tried to keep his tone casual but he couldn't help but glance over at Steve. He was sitting in between Pepper Potts and Peggy Carter, the latter of which seemed to be ignoring him.

"I wouldn't count on it. Between both Carters, Loki and Rumlow, Steve Rogers has the worst dating history in the school." Rhodes looked up just as his friend, Tony Stark sat down. As usual, Stark looked like he hadn't slept in a week and jittery enough for seven cups of coffee.

"Rhodey, I have the most brilliant idea." It was only after he sat down that Stark seemed to notice Bucky was there too. They both stared at each other for a long moment and Bucky narrowed his eyes. He knew what was coming next.

"This is top secret, you can't be here." Stark waved a hand as if he was just expecting Bucky to hop out of his seat in the middle of breakfast.

"Then you can move, especially considering this is the Hufflepuff table."

"My friend is here and you don't seem to have any friends, definitely not ones sitting at the Hufflepuff table," Stark shot back and then smiled as if he had scored the upper hand. Bucky resisted the urge to throw his Charms book into that smug face.

"Tony." Rhodes managed to achieve a disappointed tone that Bucky's mum would be proud of and Stark instead looked trapped. "Sorry, Barnes, we'll head out." Rhodes dragged a protesting Stark off and Bucky watched them go before getting back to his Charms book. The Summoning Charm was fourth year stuff but the weather charm looked interesting. Especially the one to make it rain - maybe he could do it on Gryffindor's next Quidditch match. As long as they weren't playing Slytherin it was unlikely Steve would care.

"Hello, Barnes." Carter the Younger, Sharon Carter, a fifth year Gryffindor who managed to be competent and quietly arrogant at the same time, something Bucky thought only he could do well, sat down in the seat Rhodes had just occupied.

"No." Bucky went back to his book, knowing Carter was gaping at him.

"You didn't even hear what I was going to say."

"Don't have to, the answer is no." Bucky found it a lot easier to focus on his textbook when he imagined using the weather charm right on top of Sharon Carter's head.

"It involves getting into a fight with Sam Wilson, which you do anyway, so why can't you do it for me I don't know." Sharon smirked as Bucky raised his head. "Ah, I knew that would interest you."

"Okay." He closed his book. He wasn't going to get a chance to look at it with all these interruptions going on. "You want me to get in a fight with Wilson. Why?"

"I thought all you were going to ask was when."

"Not until I know why." Bucky had a sneaky suspicion it had something to do with Steve.

"Well, I suppose it's alright to tell you. You don't really gossip so you won't tell anyone." That was a lie but Bucky really wasn’t going to correct her. Sharon pushed her hair behind her ear and looked down at the table. "Sam's being a little protective of Steve since we broke up and I was hoping if you distracted Sam for long enough, I could ask Steve out again without the looming distraction of his best friend. I'm sure he'll say yes."

Bucky turned the thought over for a moment. On the one hand, he was pretty sure Steve would turn her down and it would take Sharon down a peg or two. However, Bucky wasn't nearly secure enough in their super-secret relationship and Sharon was an ex-girlfriend of Steve's and he couldn't discount the possibility Steve would say yes out of sheer awkwardness and not wanting to hurt Sharon's feelings.

"I'm going to say no."

"What?" This was obviously not the answer Sharon had been expecting. "Why?"

"Well, if a guy likes you, he'll say yes to a date whether his best friend is there or not. And I don't like planning my fights with Wilson, they're much better when they're spontaneous."

"Why do you care so much about whether Steve will say yes to me or not?" Sharon rolled her eyes, missing Bucky's momentary freeze. "You couldn't do this one thing for me.

"Not a chance." With that Bucky stood up and left the Great Hall, Charms book in tow.

"Why were you talking to Sharon Carter?" Wilson's voice made Bucky jump but he tried to disguise it with a turn.

"What?"

"Why were you talking to Sharon Carter?" Wilson repeated slowly and with a look on his face as if wondering Bucky was purposefully being slow this morning.

"None of your business." He could have lied and said something about homework but Wilson asking him anything always rubbed him the wrong way. It was like they were designed to irritate each other ever since Bucky's cat tried to eat Wilson's owl on their first Hogwarts Express together.

"Look, I know you don't like Steve but teaming up with his ex-girlfriend to hurt him is just wrong. I thought you had some decency. I saw how you kept looking over at Steve during breakfast."

Bucky went cold. He hadn't been that obvious, had he? "Surprisingly enough, Wilson, not everything revolves around you and Rogers. I can talk to who I like and I'm not going to have some nosy Gryffindor tell me what to do."

Now in a really bad mood, Bucky stormed off to class.

The thing was, Bucky didn't have a lot of friends in his house. He was discounted as 'quiet' or 'scary' and was generally left alone. While this was better than being bullied and he really didn’t mind being thought of scary, it got quite lonely at times. He would call Rhodes, Nat and Clint his friends but the latter two weren’t with him in Hufflepuff and Rhodes wasn't in the same year.

When he saw Steve laughing and joking with his friends, unlike Bucky he had a variety of friends in different House and different years, it soured Bucky's mood further and he wasn't even able to concentrate in Charms, simply doodling on his parchment instead.

"So, I think you should invite Steve to Hogsmeade weekend. Just under two weeks to go." Nat was very cheerful when she saw in the library after lessons and Bucky wanted to stab her with his quill.

"No, I'm not asking him."

"But you guys would make such a good couple."

"While I don't hate Rogers quite as much as Wilson, I still would prefer to get one of your Muggle root canals or lick the bottom of Filch's foot than go on a date with Rogers." That was going to come and bite him later if Steve and him lasted long enough for Nat to find out.

"Wow, strong words." Nat didn't look put off though and Bucky wondered what would get her to stop. "Sam tells me that you and Sharon Carter are plotting bad things for Steve though and I figure if you were dating Steve, he could just distract you with sex when you were mad at him."

Bucky stood up abruptly and slammed his book closed. Miss Pince hissed at him but he ignored her. "You are getting just as annoying as Wilson," Bucky said before, for the second time that day, he swept out of the room.

He had just been thinking that his day couldn't get any worse when he turned the corner and saw Steve leaning against the wall at the far end of the corridor. Sharon Carter was standing next to him, a lot closer than 'just friends' should be. Jealousy, ugly and powerful, rose up in Bucky's throat and he resisted the urge to curse the both of them.

It looked like Steve was tired of being a secret relationship and was seeing what other options there were out there.

He was tired and it hurt so, rather than confront them both, he turned on his heel and went back down the corridor. After a couple of seconds, he heard hurried footsteps coming after him and knew just who it was.

"Bucky, wait. It's not what it looks like."

This made Bucky turn around. "Wow, that's a cliche. Couldn't you have offered something a little more interesting?"

Steve raised one eyebrow. "Got you to turn around didn't it?"

Bucky grimaced and looked away. "What do you want, Steve?"

"Nothing was happening between Sharon and me. I was trying to figure out a way to let her down without hurting her feelings." 

Wow, it looked like Bucky had been completely correct with his theory about Steve saying yes to a date because he felt like he couldn't say no without hurting someone's feelings. The fact that he was technically dating Bucky at the time didn’t seem to matter so much.

"Well, if you were trying to figure out a way of saying no because of me, then don't bother."

"What?" Steve looked like someone had winded him with a badly done Stunning Spell.

"It was fun but I can't do this anymore." Nat's teasing, Wilson automatically thinking the worst of Bucky, Sharon's assumption that Steve would say to going out with her again, even Steve's dating history. "Look, I have to go to Quidditch practice. Sorry." Bucky felt like a complete heel when he saw the look on Steve's face but maybe this was for the best. Quidditch and N.E.W.T.S -they were supposed to be his focus. Not a secret relationship that wasn't ever going to go somewhere.

"Bucky," Steve said but Bucky kept on walking right up until he found himself outside the Room of Requirement. No one would bother him in there.

The week just got worse from there. Bucky wasn't able to tolerate Nat's teasing nearly as well and she eventually started to avoid him. Glancing at Steve, who seemed to be consciously avoiding looking at Bucky, was torture. He was in such a bad mood that even Rhodes picked up on it.

“Any particular reason you’ve looked more murderous than usual? Even Tony wants to avoid you and he has the self-preservation of a flobberworm,” Rhodes asked over breakfast one morning. Bucky had his Transfiguration textbook propped up on the orange juice and was trying to look at that and not Steve.

“There’s no reason.” He stabbed his scrambled eggs viciously.

Rhodes gave him a concerned look but Bucky, no longer hungry, grabbed his book and hurried out of the Great Hall.

By Friday afternoon everything had gotten so bad, Bucky was spending his free period in an empty classroom, alone.

"Merlin," Bucky whispered to himself as he sat up against the wall. He missed Steve, more than he thought he would have, and tomorrow he would be playing Gryffindor and even the satisfaction of beating Wilson wouldn't be enough.

"Why are you in here?" Steve's voice made him jump about three feet in the air and Bucky put a hand on his chest as if that could slow his racing heart.

"Fuck, you scared me." Steve didn't say anything else, merely sat down right next to Bucky. It looked like he had the same kind of week Bucky had had and the thought cheered Bucky up a little.

"Why did you break up with me?" Steve asked, gaze focused on his bent knees. “You never gave me a proper answer and I think I deserve that much.”

Bucky opened his mouth to say the same things about keeping their relationship a secret, nevermind that had been Bucky's idea, but what came out was something completely different. "I just don't see how we fit together."

"How so?" Every word sounded careful as if Steve had chosen what to say carefully. Bucky wished his brain was showing the same kind of restraint.

"Two very different people, two different social groups. Even if we said we were dating, I could just imagine how your friends would react. It was easier to break up when no one knew, that way I wouldn't be getting all the fake sympathy from people who are just waiting to ask you out, like they did to Peggy."

"They did what to Peggy?" Steve asked, honestly confused.

"Don't worry, she set them straight."

Steve shook his head. "Look, Bucky, I'm not going to lie."

"Not that you could." Steve was the most honest person Bucky knew. That probably made it worse that Bucky had gotten him to lie to his closest friends about who he was dating.

"My friends will be surprised when they hear about us. But when we were dating, you were dating me. Not them. They're important to me and I'll listen when they talk but they don't know you like I do." Steve inched closer, slowly as if he was afraid Bucky would reject him, but when Bucky did nothing, he settled himself against Bucky's side. "I like dating you and maybe we could do it in public?"

Bucky thought about it for a moment. He knew that when he broke up with Steve, he was just stressed and tired and seeing Sharon with Steve had been the last straw. Underneath everything though, there was nothing wrong with Steve and Bucky missed him. "Maybe we should ease into the public thing," Bucky said but smiled when Steve looked at him, a growing smile stretching across his face.

"We'll do slow." Steve leaned in and kissed Bucky, gentle and loving enough to make Bucky want to cry. He didn't, but the urge was there.

"First, I'm going to crush Wilson in a Quidditch match." Bucky grinned. Beating Wilson felt so much better when Steve was at his side, even if he gave Bucky disapproving looks.

"Don't you have to go to Quidditch practice for that?" Steve asked and Bucky glanced at the time. Oh that wasn't good.

"I have to go." He scrambled to his feet and was about to run out of the classroom when he spun around and pulled Steve into a movie star kiss, dip and all. When they straightened up, Steve looked so tempting with flushed cheeks, reddened lips and mussed up hair. "I swear, if I didn't have practice..." He let the sentence trail off.

"You won't win tomorrow if you don’t go and I want to cheer my boyfriend on." Steve gave him a gentle shove towards the door which Bucky was helpless to resist especially when he couldn’t stop smiling at Steve calling him his boyfriend. "I'll see you soon."

The Quidditch match the next day was one of the best he had ever done. It was like he was on fire with how often he was handling the Quaffle. Hufflepuff were up by 70 within ten minutes and five of those goals were down to Bucky.

He was just high-fiving Pietro, one of their Chasers, for the excellent goal he had just scored when something slammed into his upper back. He heard a shout from the crowd and there were several screams but all he really knew was falling and darkness.

He blinked awake and the first thing he saw was Steve's face, drawn tight with worry. As soon as Bucky managed to focus on his face, Steve smiled, though it was a small, watery thing.

"Hey, Bucky," Steve said softly as if he was scared of talking too loudly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by the Whomping Willow." Bucky hoped some of that had been coherent because he felt too tired to repeat himself. He felt like sleeping but he didn't want to miss Steve being here.

"Drink this, Mr Barnes." Madam Pomfrey shoved a glass under his nose and Bucky drank it down because he could stop to think about how bad it smelt or how bad it was about to taste.

"What happened?" Bucky said after he had handed the goblet back to Madam Pomfrey with a grimace.

"Bludger caught you right on the back and knocked you off your broom." Steve took a shaky breath and Bucky, worried about how drained Steve looked, raised a suddenly clumsy hand to cup Steve's face as he had done so many times before. It was right about then that he looked around and saw his friends standing around his bed. Nat and Wilson were gaping at him while Rhodes was looking smug and Wanda looked like her normal distracted self, staring out the window and appearing oblivious to what was going on in the Hospital Wing.

"Oh yeah, our secret's out," Steve said casually as he held out a goblet of water and helped Bucky to drink. "I freaked out when you fell and then you did this." Steve put his hand over Bucky's hand on his cheek. It was a nice feeling, sandwiched between Steve but Bucky was becoming more and more aware of the stares.

"We've been dating for about three months," Bucky said. It was almost worth the teasing for the look of shock on Wilson's face. Seeing Nat surprised as well was great considering how rare it was.

"How did you manage to hide it? From me?" Nat asked incredulously.

"Maybe you're not as observant as you like to think," Bucky said innocently and then laughed as Nat pointed her wand at him in a threatening manner.

"I don't care whether you're in a hospital bed or not, I will hex you."

Bucky was about to retort but was distracted by Steve pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "What was that for?" Bucky asked.

"I'm glad you're okay," Steve said. His eyes were shining bluer than normal; he had been really upset it seemed. "And now I can show it."

Bucky grinned, he couldn't help it. "Get out," he said. Steve blinked, looking confused and surprised but then Bucky turned his head to look at the rest of his friends (and one archnemesis). "I'm okay, we're dating, now you need to go."

There were a few objections but everyone mostly headed for the door without complaint. "Can't believe they're having a booty call in the Hospital Wing," Wilson was saying as the doors to the Hospital Wing closed. Madam Pomfrey sent Bucky an eagle-eyed glare his way and he looked as innocent as possible so she didn't think he and Steve were going to hook up when she was only a few feet away.

"You didn't have to send them away," Steve said, though his tone was enough to say that he didn't really mind. "They were worried about you."

"And I will make it up to them as soon as I get out of here but right now I don't want an audience." Bucky leaned as far as he could go before his back started to hurt. "Steve Rogers, would you like to go on a date to Hogsmeade with me in full view of everyone?"

Steve laughed and Bucky grinned in response. "Why yes, I would love to do so." They were able to kiss for about ten seconds before Madam Pomfrey bustled up to them.

"Mr Barnes, that isn't resting."

"I hope not," Steve muttered, sending Bucky into creases of laughter before an important thought occurred to him.

"Hey, did Hufflepuff win the game?" Bucky was one of the Chasers, they should have been able to carry on without him. Steve sighed and looked put-upon.

"Yes, you won."

"Mr Rogers, out now. This boy needs rest and I'm sure he won't get any while you're here." Pomfrey folded her arms and gave Steve a half-hearted glare. She liked Steve more than she liked Bucky but it seemed not even that would be enough to get Steve to stay.

"No, I suppose not." Steve gave Bucky one last kiss before he left, giving Bucky a sad little wave before shutting the door.

"I've got a date this Hogsmeade weekend," Bucky said to Madam Pomfrey with a grin he couldn't suppress even if he wanted to.  
  



End file.
